


The Year Autumn Changed

by twitch



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Birthday Party, Charades, Dresses, Enemies to Friends, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, M/M, Neighbors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-08-08 16:36:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16433030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twitch/pseuds/twitch
Summary: Hux wasn't personable. Scarcely sociable. But when he greets the new neighbour on the street to little success he gives up. It's not worth his effort. Or so he tells himself.He just needs to keep reminding himself of that.





	1. Won't You Be My Neighbour

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Fall challenge at kyluxxoxo over on Tumblr. Venturing forward to fill in all nine-boxes here are the first three. Fall-Neighbor-Disguise.

Fall was normally his favourite time of the year but circumstances made this year the exception. 

September had started out fairly decent. The summer heat had its unbearable afternoons but his tendency to come in early to work meant that he could slip out that little bit earlier. The wide windows faced west, letting the sun fill the eighth floor of the business building unhampered, no trees or buildings close enough to provide shade or shelter. The office was always too hot, no matter the precautions he took, but remarkably that half hour of leeway time meant that the crowds on the subway were just a little smaller, providing less squeezing and body heat to make the limited space swelter. And by the time he got home he could adjust his blinds to make sure he could deflect what remained of the sun from overheating the house.

Yet he couldn’t ignore the sign on his neighbour’s lawn. The cul-de-sac he lived on wasn’t quite suburban but was far enough from the business core of the city, hidden in what would’ve been a grassy knoll half a century ago. Enough trees to make it visually appealing and quiet from the nearest traffic-light controlled thoroughfare. The houses small enough for married couples or small families. 

The “For Sale” sign was replaced by a sold one mid-September. Absent by the end of the month. 

Several U-Hauls came by over the course of three days.

October was the first time he first caught a glimpse of his neighbour. He didn’t call it spying, not when he was normally on his way in or out. Every time he caught the same head of dark hair, never anyone else. It had been reassuring that his status as neighbourhood singleton had someone else to share the rank.

Yet when he raised his hand in a greeting of a wave, seeing his neighbour bringing a lawnmower around to the front lawn, he received only a brief suspicious look.

Keeping a scowl at bay he continued to his house, adjusting the weight of his groceries. Mentally reminded himself that he wasn’t the most sociable person. It would stand to reason that he had met someone else who also preferred to keep to themselves. And, knowing how temperamental his own lawnmower was, the look that had been cast his way may have been meant for the chore or the machine.

The next day, heading to work at his usual time, he spotted his neighbour finishing what had to be a morning run, face heated but invigorated as he neared his driveway. 

He had enough time to make it to the subway station even if he stopped. “Hello,” he called, once he realised any other potential greeting would be cheesy or potentially prying. “The name’s Hux, I live across the street.” 

He started gesturing to his house but lowered his hand to his side when the other man was staring only at him. Exhaled deeply, hesitated, before cocking a shoulder. “Kylo.” 

Hux almost laughed. The long pause before introducing himself sounded fake, the name a different identity from the name that should’ve been his. An unspoken disguise despite the lack of a costume. “Nice meeting you,” Hux greeted, bringing his hand across to shake.

Kylo didn’t hold himself back, snorting and disregarding his hand. Continued up his driveway without a word, the sound of the front door unlocking and closing too loud in the scorned silence.

The corner of his mouth twitching, not quite snarling, Hux snapped his gaze forward and hurried his feet. 

Let him hide in his house.


	2. Fee fee fie fie fo fo fum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> October arrives and Hux still steers clear of Kylo. But Halloween approaches and the season sinks its hooks into Hux. And other sinister spirits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the Fall challenge at kyluxxoxo over on Tumblr. Next series of boxes filled. Bone-Dress-Demon.

Even though he harboured a distinct… dislike for Kylo, he didn’t let it take over his life. After the introduction on the street their paths rarely crossed. He would’ve denied it to anyone who may’ve asked but he deliberately left his house five minutes later, avoiding Kylo’s return from what he believed was his daily runs. He still arrived at work at his normally scheduled time, except with a tea in a traveller from home rather than the coffee kiosk on the main floor of the office building. 

Based on the time of Kylo’s runs he must’ve started work later in the morning, arrived home after Hux was already safely ensconced in his house.

The few times he did see him was when taking his garbage out in the evenings. Or returning from grocery shopping. Or if he had gone out on the weekend, free from workweek routine. Even then, at the mercy of Kylo’s schedule, which he was not in the habit of memorizing.

So what if he knew Kylo went out grocery shopping Saturday mornings. He only knew because he picked up the community newspaper one Saturday when Kylo backed his car out of his driveway.

It was coincidence that he was raking up leaves when Kylo returned with grocery bags. 

And he knew by now not to greet Kylo. Even the nod towards Kylo when he glanced back to him, hands full with his bags, was ignored in favour of taking his perishables inside his house. 

He didn’t make lengthy conversations with the rest of his neighbours. Never been inside any of their houses. But he did make small talk when they spotted each other, friendly but not overly personable. Maz was the only exception, who ruled the roost from the very top of the street. Who would chat up everyone when she spied them. 

He was fairly sure he even saw her talking with Kylo. They must’ve been talking for close to five minutes, remarkably enough, even though it looked like Kylo was looking for an opportunity to escape the conversation. 

The social slights were not his burden alone. For reasons unknown Kylo kept to himself, which was perfectly fine with him.

*

Hux never had the opportunity to enjoy Halloween as a kid. His dad, the perpetual curmudgeon, didn’t let him go out trick-or-treating. They didn’t decorate the house despite his attempts to convince his dad otherwise. The house looked fine on its own, they weren’t the set designers for a C-Grade horror movie. Yet they lived in a neighbourhood that had a good number of kids, the result of living in an area that had an elementary and secondary school within walking distance. Every Halloween hundreds of kids came by, the famous chant sounding every time he opened the door. 

His dad was always busy. He claimed he had work to do, in preparation for the next workday. Even when Halloween was on a Friday or Saturday night. Hux knew that the work didn’t involve watching television for the three hours before he went to bed. But Hux enjoyed it, handing out chocolates. Checking out the costumes everyone wore. Making a mental note of costumes that he could look good in. Even though he never got the opportunity to buy or make a costume for himself. According to his dad he always had to look presentable, as though the next person to come to the door would be a corporate CEO about to give him a job.

Not that a six-year-old would be finding himself in an office building the next week, rather than his homeroom.

Hux didn’t usually dress up but he did decorate the front yard. It was normally the same thing. Several small tombstones that were actually made of stone, purchased from a garden nursery. He positioned them in the grass to line the path from driveway to front door. One large pumpkin, carved into something that resembled a face – his artistic abilities were not fantastic, perched on the bricks that edged the garden against his house. A mask that was a witch’s face, including a floppy black hat, hung from the front door. 

The most recent acquisition, bought in September, adorned his door. Although the front door was locked, a key dangled from the keyhole. It wasn’t designed to unlock the door from the outside, just thin enough without the grooves to fit into the hole. He called it his skeleton key. 

The key that hung from a keyring, that, though the key was inserted into the keyhole, a bone – a plastic skeleton finger, dangled from the door.

Hux had his decorations up on the first weekend in October. Not only was the weather good for decorating, the sun out but not resulting in sweat despite moving things around, but he didn’t see any sign of Kylo.

He bought Halloween candy the following weekend. 

If he wanted to go all out against his dad he could’ve. His dad didn’t have the desire to see what he was doing with his life after he graduated from university. Forgoing his dad’s aspirations for him for his own, and moving to a different city, made the point that he was going in new directions very evident. It wasn’t a rebellion, it was becoming who he wanted to be, free from his dad’s shadow. He visited for a day or two with his dad over the Christmas break, preferring to spend the rest of his holidays either with friends or on his own.

So when Phasma insisted he come out to a party the weekend before Halloween he hesitated. Even though he decorated for Halloween he never did start dressing up for the holiday. All the time he spent admiring other people’s costumes resulted in only that. Commending the superheroes who visited his doorstep, handing out candy to the various Disney characters who knocked on his door. He treated them all equally, the princes and princesses, heroes and animals. 

He never spent any time thinking of what he would dress up for himself. Told Phasma that he didn’t have a costume but she reassured him that he had plenty of time to come up with a costume.

He wasn’t too sure about that.

It wasn’t until one night, reading in the chair positioned by the front window, tea on the table beside him, that he looked up, pursed lips easing back into a smile. 

He never really cared to know every single detail in a character’s clothing choices, but tonight it pinged, catching his attention. Once ensnared his mind tumbled around, backwards and then shooting off into an entirely unexpected direction. 

He texted Phasma the following day to tell her he decided on his costume choice. 

It wasn’t hard to find the tail and headpiece required for his look.

Finding the right clothing was more fun than he expected. He visited all the stores that Phasma cited as her favourite shopping destinations, whenever friends and strangers flowered her with compliments for her wardrobe. 

Getting the shoes was a challenge but in the end he succeeded.

The last part… he had to admit he didn’t have the skills to do it on his own. No matter how many youtube videos he watched he couldn’t get his hand to stay steady. The supplies he bought from the drug store were perched around the bathroom sink, waiting for him to master the trade. Yet after his fifth attempt he knew he needed Phasma’s help.

The Saturday of the party, dressed all up, he put on his longest coat and ventured out. 

As he expected Kylo wasn’t in sight.

The ride on the subway, and the walk to Phasma’s, resulted in the long looks he expected. He took them all with either a smirk or a raised eyebrow, and purposely swung his newly purchased purse in time with canvas tote. 

When Phasma let him into her condo she quickly pulled off his coat. Cackled with glee. 

“So, these are your supplies?” Taking his tote bag from him, peeking inside, she grinned wider. “Too bad no one there is going to be old enough to get your costume, but I absolutely love it.”

“As long as I can request the song, I’m sure they’ll catch on,” Hux commented, adjusting his dress to fall smoothly. 

She quickly ushered him into her washroom, putting on his eyeshadow, mascara and blush. 

“Now pout,” she instructed. He didn’t really need her help for the lipstick but did as she requested. Moved his face the way she guided him, fingers loose around his chin. “It might look better with foundation but it looks good enough the way it is.” 

“If it weren’t for you, I would’ve been resembling Alice Cooper.” Admiring himself in the mirror, wine coloured lips smirked back at him. “You make me look good.”

Crossing her arms, she glanced down at his stocking covered feet, then back up with a pointed look. “It won’t save you if you can’t walk around in your shoes.”

His high heel shoes remained in the bag. Putting them on, walking smoothly, demonstrated the week’s worth of practise, spent at home after work. 

“You’ll be crying a different story after dancing in those heels,” she countered regardless how impressed she was. It was hard to tell if she was, her expression deadpan. 

Hux shrugged off her warning with a wiggle of his fingers, his nails black after he did them that morning. “A risk I will gladly suffer for looking so gorgeous.”

A snort later she broke out into a grin. “Alright, now I’m getting dressed. Then we can make our way to the club.”

Phasma had told him where the Halloween party was happening but he hadn’t been prepared for the familiar faces. He expected that she just wanted him to get out and have some fun. He heard Poe before seeing him and as it was Poe saw Phasma before him. The two hugged each other and Poe was in the process of dragging her away, wanting to meet up with the others before she hobnobbed with strangers. It was her hand around his arm that had Poe stopping before they started, glancing past her to him. 

“Aren’t you going to invite me along?” Hux asked, twisting the loose end of his tail around his free wrist. 

Poe stared before laughing, disbelieving. “Nice dress Hux sweetie.” 

“Took you long enough to recognise me,” he jibed back, smirking. Slipping his arm free from Phasma’s hold he combed his fingers through his fringe, loose from its usual slicked back style. It appeared even longer thanks to the red devil horns he wore. 

“Why I didn’t, I don’t know. You are in your natural form after all.” 

Hux shrugged, fluttering his darkly made up eyes. “Angel by day, devil by day.” 

“You’ve never been angel.” Hux conceded to Phasma’s remark with another shrug and a put-upon dejected sigh. “Now come along, say hello to your minions – ah, friends.”

If anyone found it odd seeing a devil in a dress walking alongside a 60’s go-go dancer no one made comment to it. Poe, in his ghostbuster’s uniform, cleared the way for them, not that it was necessarily needed when the two of them followed, both taller than their usual 6’foot plus frames thanks to their heels. 

It took a while to find everyone, between the dance floor and bars and booths and tables occupied. Rose was dressed as a zombified nurse and Rey as a bloodied surgeon, a victim of Rose’s hunger. Finn had not dressed to match Poe, looking very authentic as a pirate. Poe tried to insist that Finn’s pirate was in ghost form, enthralled with him and thus his constant companion. It wasn’t until Poe kept searching that Hux realised Poe was going to introduce them to someone outside their circle of friends.

“Finn, where did he go?” Poe asked, hoping that he had seen him last. 

Finn shook his head. “I think he said he was going to the bar.”

Poe forged his way past a gathering of people, waving for Phasma and him to follow. “I invited an old friend of mine to come. He lived on the west coast for a couple of years but he moved back a few months ago. He’s not the biggest fan of crowds, so this might not be the best of introductions. I’ll have to host a get-together at my house soon, he’d be more comfortable there.”

“What is he dressed up as?” he asked, scanning the crowd around him. He didn’t want to say it, but out of the corner of his eye, scanning the room as he was, Phasma was smirking. They probably did have a better view of the place than Poe.

“It doesn’t help that he’s wearing all black.” Popping up onto his toes to no success, Poe dropped to the flat of his feet and looked around again. “I’ll keep looking for him but you guys go out, have fun. I know it won’t be hard to find you two.”

Poe continued looking around, more confused by the second. Indeed, in the dark club, a lot of the darker costumes were hard to tell apart, especially at a distance. Hux leaned towards Phasma, easing her hand off of his elbow. “I’ll grab us drinks, I’ll find you in a bit.”

“I’ll be on the dance floor.” She gave him a kiss on the cheek before winding her way through the crowd. 

When he looked forward again Poe was gone. Knowing that he was looking for his wayward friend he made his way toward the bar. They had more servers tonight, in preparation for the costume party, but it still resulted in waiting, a wait he didn’t mind. Having unwound his tail from his wrist, it swaying with every step he made through the club, he moved with the line.

At the counter he placed his order, all the while trying to keep an eye on the dance floor, hoping to catch a glimpse of Phasma. She must have moved past his line of sight and soon he was distracted by his drink being offered to him. Taking a sip of his whiskey, waiting for Phasma’s martini, he leaned against the bar. 

“And here I thought you had a stick up your ass all this time.” Hux heard the voice but didn’t recognize it. Didn’t think it was talking to him until it was closer, speaking directly into his ear. Even then he didn’t react other than stopping with his glass against his lips. “Turns out you just had your tail stuffed up in there all this time.”

A sideways glance from beneath lowered eyelids had him looking at his neighbour. Of all the places to find him, finally out of his lair. And decked in black, all the way from his horns to waist height, which was the lowest his gaze drifted before he took a sip of his drink. He stopped, darting his eyes back to Kylo. “Do you have a friend by the name of Poe?” 

This time it was Kylo’s turn to freeze. “What about him?”

Scoffing and rolling his eyes Hux took a longer drink. Figures. “Poe is a friend of mine. Sort of. A friend of a friend who I sometimes wind up spending time with. He was looking for you. Wanted to introduce me and my friend to you.”

Kylo snorted under his breath before occupying himself with his own drink. Hux spared a brief look to the glass, hoping to catch a whiff to figure out what he was drinking. “He told me I was going out two days ago. Barely had enough time to throw together a costume.” 

Hux felt a glass nudge against his elbow, probably Phasma’s drink, but was busy taking a better look at Kylo. Nearly side by side, almost as tall as Kylo, his gaze lingered long on his chest, before taking in his face and horns. Chances were he didn’t ask for assistance with his make-up, eyes emphasized by liner, upper and lower lids. Bold, striking, with the lids accented in gold. “Am I supposed to be looking at a demon? Or a stubborn old goat?”

“A demon.” Kylo’s voice was low in his ear, a warning.

Hux didn’t heed it, looking in the opposite direction, taking another sip. “Should’ve known, what with your lack of common decency.”

Kylo grabbed a hold of his elbow but he didn’t flinch, taking another steady sip. Taking his silence to pursue Kylo shook his head. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You weren’t exactly warm and welcoming when I introduced myself to you a month ago,” Hux muttered, mostly into his drink than towards the dark figure at his side. 

Fingers tightened and those words sunk deeper. “You’re blaming me?”

Drinking alcohol too fast, Hux had to shake his head. Clear the voice that resembled too much of the sound and words of his father from his mind. “I tried acknowledging you a second time and you ignored me then too.” Hating how petulant he sounded, a grown man, not the meek child he once was, he straightened up, turned back to look at Kylo, eye to eye. “If you don’t give a shit about me you could’ve easily told me back then. Or now. Instead of pestering me for blaming you.”

Trying to look away from Kylo’s pouting lip, uneven teeth catching it, he caught a glimpse of a slow swallow. The following sip of alcohol. Now that he was looking at him he could detect a heady hoppy scent in the air between them. “I… I haven’t seen you in the mornings since a month ago. I thought I would but – my work schedule…”

Breath catching, he had to wonder how visible it was, in the low vee cut of his dress. Busying himself with the last of his drink, cringing at the empty glass, he waited a beat before looking up. “Maybe we can get together in the evening,” Hux suggested. 

Kylo nodded, managing a half smile, gaze lingering on his chest. “That sounds good.”

Remembering how Kylo didn’t spare him more than a second when they met the words rolled off inebriated lips. “Do you even know which house I live in?”

“I know which house is yours,” Kylo assured him. To which they both regarded each other, both surprised and sheepish, and somehow curious.

Cheeks hotter, and pinker than the makeup applied leant, Hux moved away from the bar. “I need to find my friend, I bought a drink for her.”

“Let me buy you a drink first.” Hux stopped, glancing back to Kylo, hoping his gaze didn’t come across as unfocussed as he felt it was. “Your glass is empty.”

Hux assured himself that Phasma wouldn’t go thirsty for another ten minutes.

And when his song came over the speakers he reached for Kylo’s hand, only because he was the closest person. Not because Kylo had called him by who he dressed up as.

Yet maybe he’d have different reasons in November.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hux's costume idea is first spurred by a passage in a book. The book is unimportant. Where his mind scuttled to next was [this song](https://youtu.be/7WXhbixla0c). Hux always looks striking to me in blue after all. ;)


	3. Act On It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> November arrives, with frost on the ground and warmth building between Hux and Kylo. A birthday party curtails their intention to do dinner but dessert sounds like a good alternative.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the Fall challenge at kyluxxoxo over on Tumblr. Now a season and a year late. ;) Next series of boxes filled. Spice-Moon-Cake.

It came as some surprise when frost hit early in November. The slow but steady fall of leaves from the trees, both in the back and front yard, were speckled with white when he woke up for what he planned to be a lazy Saturday morning. His tea, freshly steeped, brought a familiar grassy flavour to his taste buds. The first sip was refreshing and the second he savoured longer. The third was less of a sip, aborted when his cup hit his lips, his gaze properly focussing on the lawn. 

Half an hour later, tea cup rinsed, he emerged from the house wearing the one pair of sweatpants he owned. The sweatshirt he wore was perhaps too short, a holdover from the high school he went to, but still fit the breadth of his shoulders and chest. He didn’t think anything of his ensemble, seeing as it was what he wore to do yard work when it wasn’t the dead of summer.

Contrary thoughts jerked into place when he pulled the last of his yard-waste bags from the back yard to the front yard, rake in his other hand. Straightening after he positioned the bag beside the other two against the garage door, stretching the kink out of his back, he turned around to find Kylo watching him from across the street. 

He could still feel a chill against his belly when he blinked too many times to not be flustered. Fought down a blush when Kylo grinned and called out. “Nice sweatshirt.” 

“It’s old! Why not wear it for yard work?” Making his way down his driveway while Kylo jogged over, his face glistening with sweat, Hux exhaled to relax his shoulders. “If this gets grass stains on it than at least I’m not making something new suffer from uncleanliness.”

“In some ways that makes sense,” Kylo acknowledged with a bob of his head. 

Hux couldn’t leave the statement alone. “And why, in your implications, does it not make sense?”

“You don’t strike me as the type to wear crop-tops.”

“Typecasting anyone is never a wise idea.” Realising he still held onto the rake, fingers tight around the handle as though he wielded a weapon, he shifted his stance and hand.

Kylo snorted but it didn’t sound too malicious, just on the shy side of mocking. “Oh, I’m sure you spice up your life all the time.”

“Maybe.” Hux kept his gaze on Kylo, not quite staring but a visual reminder. “You might know more about that when you decide when to come over for something other than teasing words.” 

Whether Kylo had intended to make the line flirtatious he hadn’t thought of it at first. But the flush that had been on Kylo’s cheeks, fresh from his run, deepened unexpectedly. Suppressing the urge to smirk he shrugged his shoulders, the sweatshirt shifting up again, before making his way back to the grass to do more needed raking.

The next weekend he continued with his yard work. And though they didn’t exchange words Hux made sure to spend as much time bending and stretching to Kylo’s roving eyes.

*

It took a little bit longer to make a date. Kylo hadn’t talked all that much about where he worked, other than his shift ended at six. Depending on how bad traffic was he could get home as late as seven. On those evenings he needed extra time to decompress from the other drivers on the road. He was willing to wait on Kylo but as it was the first night they had free Poe was hosting a birthday party for Kylo. The only convenience was that Hux had been invited to the party along with Phasma and everyone else. 

The boardgames were not what he considered a good time but after three rounds of drinks they were the means of entertainment that the others played out. 

Balderdash picked up after Trivial Pursuit. 

Cake came out after the game.

After all the plates were handed out Kylo looked over to him with wide eyes, too busy to say anything right away for his full mouth. Quickly swallowing he held out his fork and plate to him. “You don’t have any cake, you need to have a bite! Poe, get him a piece. It’s strawberry cheesecake, my favourite, how can you say no to that?” 

Hux curled his hands away from offered slice, ducked away from the fork like a stubborn child. “I’m allergic to strawberries.” 

Phasma, seated across the room, confirmed the silence with a nod of her head.

Drunken alarm, with a heavy dose of hilarity, marked an evacuation of all the plates and cakes.

“No, don’t do that! Just eat your cake in peace!” Hux insisted. Pitched his voice louder when Poe took his and Finn’s plates to the kitchen. “I’m not touching your dishes, it won’t be a problem. Just sit down!”

He was laughing under his breath when ten minutes later, the cake consumed with less vigour but understandable precaution, Poe and Kylo were cleaning all surfaces, tables and other pieces of furniture that were acting as makeshift eating tables, while everyone else proceeded to wash their hands liberally. 

“I don’t have any ice cream either,” Poe announced, frowning when he stepped out of the kitchen ten more minutes later. “No cookies, no chocolate.”

Finn’s voice came from somewhere behind Poe. “Licorice?” 

“Not necessary, but I’ll take another beer.” He and Kylo would be taking the subway back home. If their legs proved to be less than sea-ready they would share an uber from the station. 

Everyone else in agreement, and drinks doled out, they settled in for Pictionary. Some more enthusiastic than others.

“I draw charts, not… anything else,” Hux defended after his failed turn at an easel, to everyone else’s laughter. 

To his surprise he made it up for his team when after listening to everyone else’s wrong guesses, and staring at Kylo’s handiwork, he guessed right. 

In the end, the battle of Pictionary came down to a tie, Poe stood solemnly in the front. “In the case of a tie game the only way to decide the true winner is-”

“Me!” Rey called out, waving her hand in the air. It was a sound declaration, received by nods and cheers. She had guessed the most correct answers after all and her own drawn puzzles were accurately guessed by Phasma each time

“- decided on by a game of Charades.”

“Okay, I like this decision better,” Rey relented, shuffling to the edge of her cushion on the couch. 

“Same teams as before, men on one side – women on the other. Everyone will get three cards to fill out. Write down a song, a movie or television show, and then a book. The pile of cards that the women wrote will be gathered by Rey.” Rey took that moment to bow from the couch, tipping forward from the waist in a move that also allowed her to snag her bottle and take a chug. “Hux will gather the men’s cards. And then the cards will exchange hands. Hux will have the women’s cards – for the men to act out. And Rey will have the men’s cards. Proceed to shuffle them!”

Finn had been handing out pencils and the cards as Poe gave the instructions. 

Five minutes later Paige was the first to slump back into her seat, indignant to everyone’s laughter. “Who thought writing down The Bible was a good idea?” 

Kylo was understandably confused how to portray American Horror Story.

Remarkably Phasma was able to guess War and Peace from Rey’s portrayal.

Neither an actor or an artist Hux rose with trepidation. Taking the card from the top of the pile, he took a deep breath before turning it over to read. 

He cleared his throat and forced a most serious look to his face, cocking his head in an act of confusion.

Considering the card with his free hand against his mouth he waited until the urge to laugh and smirk passed. Set the card in the discard pile before making his way to the performance area.

“Your turn Hux.”

He made a quick gesture to indicate a song before turning his back to the crowd. 

“Hux?”

Spun to his left but faced forward, his right hand to his ear. 

Spun to his right and faced forward again, hand still up.

Rose shrieked, laughed, before the guys realised they were supposed to start guessing. 

Poe and Finn were guessing, but Hux continued, waiting – hoping for a correct answer.

Set his right arm down by his side, picked up an unseen item with his left hand. Set it down on a surface in front of him, before putting his hands in front of him, strutting and swinging his hips, as though he was walking forward. 

Whispers from the couch erupted with laughter, to which Poe and Finn had to shout to try and get their answers heard.

Continuing to walk forward, in place, shoulders swaying and dipping, Hux stopped, picked something up. Acted alarm when he appeared to drop it, dabbing apologetically in mid-air. 

Swinging his arms across his chest, hands to his left shoulder then his right shoulder, crossed across his chest, then lifting his arms further, elbows out beside his shoulders but with hands on his shoulders, he crossed his arms down before crouching.

He didn’t think anything of Kylo’s silence, doing the dance in his mind. Lifting his hands up and swinging he cupped his chest, leaning towards the girls who hooted in approval. 

“Toxic!”

“I’m slipping under,” Hux sang in answer to Kylo, or at least to the best of his abilities. Hux gave another shimmy of his shoulders and sauntered back to his chair. 

“I don’t know whether to be concerned or impressed,” Finn commented, when Phasma marked down the score for the men’s team, the scoreboard propped against the lampshade beside her. 

Once seated Hux cast him a serene look. “That I know the dance, or that Kylo knows the dance too?”

“Of course he’s impressed,” Kylo remarked, slinging an arm around Hux’s shoulder. “Because now the game is tied!”

Rose succeeded where Finn didn’t, winning that round with a short but successful run with Cabaret. But Poe tied the game off against Phasma. 

And by that time, Paige announced she had to go home unless she wanted to be awake, and without a hangover, for work the next day. 

One last round to break the tie-breaking tie-breaker.

The women were huddled around the couch, whispering their strategy, while they conferred. 

“Poe or Hux?” Finn asked.

“Hey, I lucked out – I know that song by heart, lyrics and dance.”

Hux tried to ignore the curious side-eye Kylo gave him. 

They all glanced to Poe next. 

“They’ll expect me to go up. Hux should go.”

“You realise that was a fluke, right?” Hux looked around to the others, nodding his opinion on the matter. “I have zero acting skills otherwise.”

“Alright guys, time’s up!”

“Hux is doing it!” Poe volunteered for him. 

“No I’m not!”

Fortunately Phasma stood up before him. And this time Rey was stumped by her version of I Swear, which wasn’t helped by Poe yelling out Kylo in answer.

“You got this,” Kylo reassured him, not whispering but still leaning towards his ear.

Trying to shake off the feeling of warm breath against his neck, and more significantly the arousal that tingled in his belly, he took the top card from their deck.

On the subway ride home he was still reeling that he won the game for their team. Without Poe and Finn cheering, he and Kylo were comfortable to ride the train in relative silence, the sway of the train and the squeal of the tracks occasionally cutting in. The bump of their knees only to settle against each other never resulted in shifting their legs apart. 

“Are you going to be hungover tomorrow?” Kylo asked.

“I shouldn’t be. Maybe thirstier than usual.” Even if tomorrow wasn’t Saturday he didn’t see himself suffering in the morning or changing his routine. There wasn’t a need for doing yard work and he didn’t see the need to go out. “Do you have plans tomorrow?”

“Sleeping in, which I would’ve done even without alcohol.” Kylo gave a half-smile, which Hux returned.

“I’m probably going to have a quiet day too. Maybe clean up the house a bit but that’s about it.” He didn’t need to hear the announcer’s voice to stand, knowing their stop was the next one. 

“Practise your dance routine?” Kylo asked once he was standing too. 

“Only for Britney.” Meeting Kylo’s gaze he pursed his lips, resisting the quip on the tip of his tongue.

Kylo’s smile twitched wider and with the doors opening they stepped out onto the platform. It was relatively empty, only three other people exiting closer to the main stairs. The direction they needed to go in meant they went the opposite way, taking the stairs up, bypassing most of the station. Long legs took the distance to the doors in less than ten paces, greeting the peaceful night and the barely there breeze. 

Thoughts of small talk filled Hux’s mind but he left them unspoken. Part of it he reasoned was the party, his fill for socialisation and talk more than adequately provided. The rest was preoccupied by recalling how Kylo looked, laughing and chatting with the others, more comfortable at Poe’s place than the bar when he first met everyone else. The smile that came out when he was fully relaxed, and the smile that he gave him on the train. 

Perhaps it was the quiet that made him over aware of how abruptly he stopped at the foot of Kylo’s driveway, or how it felt that way to him. Kylo looked at him with an easy twist of his head, arms loose even with his hands in his pocket. Not wanting to lose his nerve he leaned in closer, keeping his own hands at his side, brushing his lips against Kylo’s.

“Happy birthday,” he murmured, hating that the moon, full and bright overhead, showed a hint of pink on his cheeks rather than the full glow that threatened to take over his face. 

He started to turn around but fingers slotted through his own, tugging lightly. It didn’t take any further persuasion for him to glance back to Kylo, take the step back into his warmth.

A thumb stroked over his own, lips brushed against his ear when Kylo moved closer. “I’ve got ice cream inside, if you want-”

It wasn’t the ice cream he wanted but Hux nodded, smiling against Kylo’s cheek. “Only if tomorrow night I get to cook you dinner.”

“I can’t guarantee you’ll get a quiet day tomorrow,” Kylo murmured, taking his hand fully.

“Oh, I am absolutely amendable to that.”

**Author's Note:**

> If interested you can follow me on [Tumblr](http://centurytwitch.tumblr.com).


End file.
